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Criticism of police was wrong-headed

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Wednesday May 22, 2013 5:26 AM

I respond to the Saturday letter “Police were reckless in Clintonville shootout” from David
Wyckoff. First, I'd like to make it clear that Wyckoff doesn't live near where the incident
occurred, so neither he nor his property ever was in harm’s way.

Second, he does not represent the people of Clintonville.

Finally, Clintonville has a Crime and Blockwatch Facebook page with almost 2,000 members.
Needless to say, the page was unusually active Thursday, with people's comments mostly positive,
with just a few negatives.

I'd like to share a comment that made me pause, catch my breath and realize how lucky we are
that no officers were killed:

“5:15 p.m. May 16: I am a nurse at Riverside and work with the trauma surgeon who got the Level
1 trauma call with ETA (estimated time of arrival) 2 minutes, that 2 officers were down. These
officers drove themselves to the hospital.

“Their cruiser was riddled with bullet holes and its windows shattered. These officers put the
community ahead of themselves after being fired at first. By the grace of God, they were not
killed, nor were any other innocent bystanders.

“These officers made decisions in a spilt second, based on their training.

“Let's not live with ‘what if.’ ‘If’ didn't happen. And for that, I am grateful.”